Ideas From Down The Aisle: 5 Ways To Reuse Your Wedding Dress

When you finally find the dress, it can understandably be difficult to part with after you spent such a special day wearing it. However, instead of zipping it up in a bag and hanging it in the back of your closet for the rest of your life, why not find a fun and sentimental way to use it again after the wedding day? Because we love the idea of putting that one-of-a-kind dress to good use more than once, we investigated some of the great ways are brides are doing just that — and my oh my are they fabulous. So before you resort to holding on to it as an unwearable memento, check out our top 5 favorite ways to reuse your wedding dress!

1. Have it turned into a special memento

Hmmm, can’t bear the thought of spending money to have your gown cleaned, preserved then stuffed into a box to never take it out to look at it again? Hire a seamstress to recycle pieces of it into different keepsakes, such as bedding for your baby’s crib, a Christmas ornament or tree skirt, curtains, pillows, a cocktail dress, etc. That way every time you see that item you can be reminded of one of the most significant days of your life. Our personal favorite is bra and panty set as this bride featured below did and used it to have a one-year anniversary shoot to surprise her husband.

2. Take pieces from the dress to use around a wooden photo frame

Preserving a wedding dress long after the big day is a lot of work, especially in certain climates, so we love the idea of taking a portion from the dress to use around a photo frame. Place a wedding photo within this frame and voila–not only is there a picture of you in the gown, but a piece of it sits around the frame! This would also work nicely within a scrapbook.

3. Make it into a necklace

The idea of reusing your wedding dress to make into a necklace definitely has the creativity and beauty to make us swoon. Whether it is turned into a pendant or a more intricate style like the gorgeous example below that the bride made from rosettes from her gown, you can’t go wrong with refashioning your dress into something you can wear again and again.

Flickr photo via lambsandivydesigns.com (CC BY 2.0)

4. Trash it in morning after or anniversary photo shoot

Trash the dress sessions has become increasingly popular with brides across the world, and for good reason. For starters, they are stunning and make for incredible photos of your and the love of your life. We think a morning after the wedding trash the dress session or a one year anniversary is the best time to get wild and crazy with the dress. You had an amazing time the first time your wore the dress, why not wear it again? Truly a fab way to reuse your wedding dress after the wedding day!

5. Start a new tradition: Try it on every anniversary!

Can you tell this is my personal favorite? I love the excitement of taking it out every anniversary, and trying it on with my children. I’ve been married over a decade and while I cannot fully zip up the back, I look forward to this annual tradition where I can not only see, but touch a moment of when I became “Mrs”.

This is owner Christine with her two children.

For more ways that other Connecticut brides have reused their wedding dress, contact us, we’ll give your our insider resources!